[MrSandMan]

The Marshall JCM 800 is a true icon and now I know why. Having my first hands on experience with one, now I get it. "The Marshall crunch" We hear this term thrown around alot. To know what that truly means you gotta play one. And that's exactly what I suggest you do as soon as you get the chance. Play it loud!

When you think Marshall JCM800 2203, what is the first thing that comes to mind... British tone? Loudness? Crunch? If that is what comes to mind.. then you are right! One thing that is a totally understatement, the volume. These things are brutal loud. I cannot express this enough.... 100 watts of tube power = earth shaking power.

I was jammin on the JCM 800 this afternoon and clocks from other rooms literally started falking of the walls.. walls are shakin, things were crashing down. My house looks like a tornado hit. But the kicker of these amps is that you need to crank the volume to get the full effect of tone. How did Jimmy Hendrix drive his amp? He cranked it full blast to overdrive it.. It all started from there.

This 1985 has nice gain. I thought the JCM had to be driven with a tube driver or it would be useless.. this is not completely true. It holds it's own. Oh and get this, you crank the preamp volume to get that 'fuzz' tone. Ever play a Big Muff? Same type effect... but tube driven.

All in all, this is the true American amp. It is legend.... now I understand how it got its reputation... it is Marshall!

(p.s. Marshall require a NS2 noise suppressor or Decimator!)

Get out there and play a JCM800. If you don't crank it past 5.. then you didn't play it.